1 of 6

LIFE OF A (BIO)STATISTICIAN

BRET MUSSER

10.11.2021

2 of 6

ABOUT ME…

  • PhD from UMN Statistics in 1999
  • During school - internships at Consumer Product Safety Commission, Merck, and small-time consulting projects (Fishery department among other departments on-campus)
  • Started at Merck Research Laboratories in 1998
    • Clinical Pharmacology / Phase I trials
    • Phase II/III in multiple therapeutic areas: Pain, Cardiovascular, Obesity, Diabetes
    • Genetic analyses & preclinical analyses
    • “Modeling and Simulation”
  • Joined Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in 2017 to lead Early Clinical Development Biostatistics group
    • Built group from 2 statisticians to 16 statisticians over last 4 years
    • Notable projects: “FOP” disease proof-of-concept; post-marketing safety analyses; Ebola treatment approval; COVID

2

3 of 6

(MAJOR) ROLES OF STATISTICIANS IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY

  • Research
    • Genetics / genomics
    • Compound screening
    • Preclinical experiments
    • Toxicology
  • Development
    • Clinical development – clinical trials (efficacy, safety, clinical pharmacology), decision making (typical Biostatistics)
    • Epidemiology – PRO, understanding disease
    • Health outcomes research
    • Health economics
    • Post-marketing safety
    • Emerging data sources: Digital devices, EHR data

​

  • Manufacturing
    • Formulation development
    • Quality control
  • Commercial
    • Market projections
    • Drug utilization
    • Financial projections
  • General business
    • Portfolio management

​

  • Just a partial list…. there are too many exact roles to list!

​

3

4 of 6

ATTRIBUTES OF A SUCCESSFUL STATISTICIAN

Especially important for people entering their career:

  • Initiative
  • Communication – especially to non-statisticians
  • Collaboration
  • Ownership
  • Creativity
  • Agility
  • Curiosity
  • Accuracy
  • Ability to resolve conflict
  • Time management
  • Ability to learn

​

Later in career (like, past first year)

  • Strategic thinking
  • Leadership (this does not mean being in charge)
  • Influence
  • Understanding the business and what ‘impact’ means
  • Ability to learn

​

​

​

​

  • Technical competence is always a pre-requisite

​

​

4

5 of 6

OPPORTUNITIES TO JOIN REGENERON

  • Summer internships
    • Department of Biostatistics and Data Management has 4 internships for graduate students in Stat/Biostat
    • Other areas of Regeneron have multiple internships for undergraduates and graduates in Stat, Biostat, Data Science and related fields – positions in Commercial, Manufacturing, Regeneron Genetics Center and more
    • Apply early!

​

  • Contract positions (time limited) – multiple openings for MS-level graduates

​

  • Permanent positions – multiple openings for PhD-level graduates
    • Internships strongly encouraged

​

  • Go to careers.regeneron.com

​

5

6 of 6

EXAMPLE OF STATISTICAL WORK AT REGENERON

  • COVID studies presentation (switch to PDF)

6